REVIEW: Swan T200B Desktop Monitors - Page 5

I am auditioning the A5x's now, and a sub is not needed at this point. Im looking for a nice tube DAC, cabling and power cables first. I like what I've heard about the grant tubedac 11, any thoughts? The a5x's have a very tight bass and eventhough my heart was set on subs I don't think they are a priority after listening to these monitors in my 8x13 listening room. There are a couple of tracks where I know the LF goes deeper but that's only about 10% of my listening. I was just reminiscing in my planning stage because my former setup in a larger room also, was ifinity 4.2 setup with carver amps and carver hologram CD deck with a vinyl sound.

I've lost more great audiophile setups in my life😥. My all time favorite was audiophile technic turntable with 8 in rosewood cabinet, $500 Shure, carver preamp and amps driving bi-amped ADS towers, with my dragon nakamichi tape deck at the center. I can still remember going to that place we all dream about while listening to music over and over. Well back to 2012, starting from scratch with MBP with a few mp3's on a external HD. But the A5x's have a great sound with excellent detail now I just need to select a DAC that can warm them up without losing detail.

Thinking about:
Tubedac 11
JK-ubsspdif mk lll
Pangea power cords for a5's + dac
Cardas clear USB
Kimber coaxial
I am using some monoprice coaxials for now from my MBP to the A5's via a 3.5 RCA adapter. I may have to stay with them since 25ft is pricy for better RCA cabling.

I feel better now this has been good therapy 😜

man im ready to buy the swan m200mklll's at auido insider , is there a cheaper price then $439.00 at some where else?

Edited by valtopps - 10/27/12 at 7:18pm

Agreed that the reviewer needs a bigger desk.  Great review but the speakers seem to swallow the desk up.  I've checked out the swans before and decided against buying them.  They look great and nicely spec'ed but I'm skeptical of using large monitors for a nearfield set-up.  In my experience, I've had 2 problems: one is that they do eat up a lot of desk space that I need for work; the other is that I have found that large speakers don't image as well as smaller ones.  These swans might just do the trick, though, because they are apparently built for nearfield listening.  I know when I tried out my audioengine A-5s on my desktop I thought that they didn't image right.  The audioengine P-4s that I am using now work great on my desktop.  I need a pair of active (or powered) speakers for my work office and I'm thinking of picking up the airmotiv 4s.  But I'm really glad to see a review of the swan T-200; there is not much on the web about them.

Edited by alexsj - 10/28/12 at 6:58am

They are actually that much plus a ton of shipping. (My shipping brought it up to 498.)  And i looked all over, but if you live in the us, thats just about the only place to get them through. 

I know the T200B and the M200 II + III very well, and have some A5X, too. To me, there's a big jump up from the M200III to the T200B, relative to a small improvement in power and finesse moving from the M200 II > III.  The A5X has laser-insightful treble, but the T200B is such a complete all-rounder - for general non-studio purpose, it's a much sweeter and not much less truthful device than the Adams.

hey hubsand, is the 200mklll worth thr money for the sound you get out of them and would you need s sub with them

Well the sub is up to personal opinion, and it also depends on the music that you plan to use them for. Just in terms of my opinion, I love them. The one issue I do have with them is they are a little bit on the big side, but they are pretty enough that I don't mind that they are the center-piece on my desk. 

I think the M200 Mk II is better value, but the Mark III does add power and finesse. A lightweight Fostex sub works well with them, but they're not conspicuously LF-shy.

Great review. I'm actually considering getting a pair of these and this review was really helpful. Since my aim is to go straight from my DAC (XLR out) to the speakers, powered/active speakers look the way to go. Having said that, considering that these speakers have been out for 3 years or so, I was wondering if there's anything else (active) which is a viable, similarly priced ($700 in US and £700 in the UK) competitor.

Cheers